G706 STANDING BRONZE FIGURE OF BUDDHA

THAI, AYUTTHAYA PERIOD

16^TH – 17^TH CENTURY

H. 55 CMS, 21 ½ INS

 

A delicately sculpted bronze figure of Buddha, standing on a lotus pedestal with his feet slightly apart and both hands raised in abhayamudra (the gesture of dispelling fear), the face placid and smiling beneath a broad diadem and a chignon of tiered rounded sections divided by rings; the sanghati covering both shoulders with a broad belt and a central fold between the legs and descending to points at the hem; the eyes with the remains of mother-of-pearl inlay and with traces of gilding on the surface.

 

The kingdom of Ayutthaya, established by King U Thong in 1350 in the Chao Phraya River basin to the north of Bangkok, was – until the Burmese attacked and burned its capital in 1767- one of the richest and most enduring kingdoms of Southeast Asia, attracting innumerable merchants and other visitors, not only from neighbouring Asian countries but also from Europe as well.

 

For two closely related Buddhas see cat. nos. 42 and 43 in F. McGill et al, The Kingdom of Siam: The Art of Central Thailand, San Francisco: Asian Art Museum, 2005.

 

Provenance: From an old French private collection.